At a glance
- Direct exhortation to children always prohibited
- No profiling-based ads to minors on platforms
- Alcohol, tobacco, gambling especially strict
Children and young people are specially protected. Advertising is judged from the perspective of the average member of that group (Section 3(4) UWG).
Always prohibited
A direct exhortation to children to buy the advertised product or to persuade their parents to buy it (Annex no. 28 UWG) – including in games prompting purchases of virtual currency.
Further rules
- Youth Media Protection State Treaty (Section 6 JMStV): no exploitation of inexperience or of special trust in parents and teachers
- alcohol, tobacco, e-cigarettes: specific advertising bans; advertising must not target minors
- gambling: advertising must not target minors (State Treaty on Gambling 2021)
- DSA (Art. 28(2)): online platforms must not show minors profiling-based advertising
- influencers: child influencers and family channels are advertisers; labelling rules apply in full
